Casket-handle



(No Model.) 1

` GASKET HANDLE.

110.5311814. Pa1en1ed11e0.11,1894

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A TTOHNEYS.

UNITED STATE-s l PATENT l OFFICE.A

LYMAN El WOODARD, OF OWOSSO, MICHIGAN.

GASKET-HANDLE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,814, dated December 11, 1894. Application filed August 22., 1.894. Serial No. 520,974. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern: l

Beit known that I, LYMAN E. WooDARD, of Owosso, in the county of Shiawassee and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Embossed Base or Ear for Casket-Handles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved device for facilitating the attachment of coffin or burial casket handles to the side walls of such receptacles. d

In the manufacture of coffins and caskets for burial purposes it is desirable to construct the walls of such receptacles of wood or metal as thin as is admissible to render them light to handle; and to insure safety in portage, the handles of coffins or caskets must be secured to their side walls in a reliable manner avoiding the formation of excavations-or inmentona coffin wall shown -in dentations in said walls that would weaken or mar them.

The objects of my presentinvention are, to provide a novel constructed base support or ear for attachable coihn or casket handles,

Y. which Will greatly facilitate their connectionl with the side walls of such receptacles, will avoid the formation of cavities in said Walls, be adapted for rapid and cheap production from sheet metal, and that may be quickly and reliably applied to the coffin sides after thev latter are covered with cloth or otherwise completely nished, the improvement when in place, affording strong, reliable, ornate ears oi" embossed base pieces for the handles, that may be ofthe drop style or be rigidly projected from the coffin as may be preferred. To these ends. my invention consists in the construction and ,combination of parts, as is hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views shown.

Figure lis a front view of the improvement in duplicate, anda connected pendent coin handle on the side of the coffin shown in part.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewk on thel line 2`2 in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the improvepart and a plan view of a coffin handle portion, showing accompanying ssY As before mentioned it is desirable to'V avoid excavations in the side wallsof a coffin or casket Where the handles are connected thereto, and if drop handles are used and which are preferable, the side walls of the coffin or casket should be reinforced where thehandles are attached and means provided for concealing the jointed connection of the handle with the coffin wall, so as to render the attachment neat and shapely in appearance. The devicethat is the subject of my present invention, provides an improved ear or embossed base piece for the bracket arms of a coffin handle to impinge and receive support from while in service, and which will receive the knuckle joints of such parts, concealing the hinged connection, and entirely dispensing with the formation of cavities in the sides of a coffin provided with the present improvements. v d When the improved ears for the coffin hanydlesare to be attached thereto, the walls of the coffin need only be perforated completely for the insertion of staple bolts or T-headed bolts, that directly connect the coffin handles with the sides ofthe coffiny orv casket when these are employed for such a purpose, as has been previously shown innpat'e'nts granted to me, and numbered 471,047 and 453,572.

The improved ear for coffin handles is most availablel for service in connection with the folding handle bars shown in the Letters Patent mentioned, and is herein illustrated as a coacting4 and essential feature for pendent coffin handles constructed substantially similar to those shown in said patents.

In the'drawings, 10 represents a portion of the side wall of a coiiin or casket, which part may be near the head or foot of the latter, ythe handles being provided in pairs as usual,

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one pair being located near each end of the d receptacle'for its convenient portage.

The handle bar 11 is of a suitable length and near its ends is furnished with two similar bracket arms 1'2 that are attached one near each end of the bar 11. The other ends of the bracket arms have return bent hooks 12 formed on them, and as shown the hooked portion of each arm is reduced in size, thereby affording a peripheral shoulder 12b, the p0rtion of the arm nearest to said shoulder being rounded on its surface so as to give it the form of a spherical segment which has its center in the bow of the hook 12a.

The improved base piece or ear, that is furnished for each bracket arm 12, consists essentially of a deeply dished sheet metal disk 13, that may have an oblong shape as represented'in Fig. 1 or be given anyother desired conformation of its edge portion. Eachdisk 13 is flanged at its edge to produce a cavity of a suitable depth, the portion bounded by said flanged edge being left fiat and centrally apertured in circular form.

The hook members 12a of the bracket arms 12 are made freely insertible through the center holes of the ears 13 until the shoulders 12b impinge the marginal portions of the ears that bound their perforations.

It is of special advantage in manufacturing the ears 13 that they be produced from `sheet metal, by cutting and forming them with dies of a correct shape on a suitable machine, as this permits the rapid and perfect formation of the ears com pletein large quantity at a low cost. As the sheet metal ears 13 alone are not suihciently strong to sustain the imposed weight of a coffin or casket and its contents, it is necessary to provide a backing piece for each ear. For this purpose it is preferred to employ a washer 14 that may be formed of wood or other available material, said washer being centrally apertured to form a receptacle for the joint connection of the bracket arm with the side of the coffin, the thickness of the washer and its outer diameter being so proportioned that l. said part will have an assured contact with the inner surface of the sheet metal ear 13 when the latter is with the washer in it, imposed on the side wall of a casket or coiiin and thereto secured.

The manner 'of applying the improvement to a cofiin side wall along with the handle bar and its bracket arms is as follows: The sheet metal ear 13, provided for each bracket arm 12, is secured along with its supporting washer 11 to the side wall of the coffin 10 at a proper distance from the ends of the coffin, by a single screw 15 that is loosely introduced through a perforation in the ear, made at an appropriate point, and also through an aligned perforation in washer 14 that is in place Within the ear, the Washer being so located` that its aperture will register with the aperture in the ear, and thus produce a cavity between the ear and wall of the coffin to which the ear 13 and washer 14C are secured by the screw 15, as is represented in Figs. 2

and 5. `The attachment of the ears and their reinforcing washers as stated, clamps each pair of ears at a proper distance apart on the coffin wall, for the reception of the hooked ends of two bracket arms for an attachment of the handle bar Whereon said arms are affixed, and as is shown the hooked end of each arm may be introducedwithin the aligned holes in the ear and washer.

To directly hinge the bracket arms 12 on the coffin wall, staple shaped bolts 16 or T bolts 17 may be employed, and as shown, the double or single limbs of such bolts when passed through properly located perforations in the coffin wall and secured thereto by washers and nuts 18, Will be adapted for a hinged engagement of their inner end portions with the hooked ends of the bracket arms, which will permit the latter to receive a rocking movement sufficient to project said arms at a proper angle from the coffin wall, or hang pendent from the ears 13. Preferably, in this case, the hinged connection of the bracket arms 12 with the comu wall is effected by bolts 19 having a ring eye 19n formed on the inner end, the body of the bolt being threaded to receive a nut and Washer 20, as shown in Fig. 6, the hooks on the inner ends of the bracket arms being inserted through the ring eyes so as to produce hinge joints, thus affording a neat, cheap and reliable jointed connection of the arms of the handle bars with the walls of a coffin or casket.

Frequently, coffins are covered with cloth fabric as a means of appropriately finishing their exteriors, and the handles with their bracket arms are also covered with a suitable colored fibrous fabric to suit the finish of the coffin.

Sometimes the thickness of cloth preferred to cover a particular coffin or casket, may be greater than that ordinarily used, and as it is desirable to cover the knuckle joint portions of the bracket arms, increased space at the upper edges of the apertures in the centers of the ears 13 must be provided, to accommodate the thicker material and afford room` for the proper rocking movement of the bracket arms.

In the formation of the movable ears for the coffin handles, as hereinbefore explained, cloth of various thicknesses may be used to cover the handle bars and their arms, without enlargement of the diameter ofthe apertures in the ears and their reinforcing Washers.

Referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that by slightly changing the position of the screws 15, so as to correspondingly raise the ears 13 and washers 14,increased width is afforded the annular openings at the tops of the knuckle joints on the bracket arms, so that thicker material that is affixed to the rounded exteriors of said joints, will be permitted to move along with the arms in said spaces without touching the edges of the apertures in the ears.

Should the covering material for the arms Sio IOO

` ters of the hinge joints -and top edges of the. v circular apertures in the ears, and so locate 12 be quite thin-and it is desired in order to produce a neat finish that the knuckles on the joints of said arms should Work close to the upper edges of the apertures in the ears, this can'be effected by lowering the ears with regard to the position of the joint bolts, which will diminish the distance between the censaid edge portions nearer the knuckle joints. It is claimed for this improved coffin or casket ear, that it greatly facilitates theattachment of pendent handle bars to the side Walls of such structures, and affords astrong, neat and concealed connection of the handle arms therewith, which will permit the handle bars to hang pendent, or be lifted intoa horizontal position as isindicated in Figs..3 and l5. The imping'e of the shoulders of the handle bar arms on the reinforced edges of the apertures in the ears 13 limitsthe upward rocking movement of the arms-and handle bars, so that said ears receive the Weight of the coffin and its contents and coact with the hinge joints of the arms to sustain such weight when the coin or casket is carried by its handles.

Havingthus described myinvention,l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In casket handle attachments,a sheet metal disk having an opening, and a separate Washer reinforcing the disk at its opening, substantially as described.

2. In casket handle-attachments, the combination with a disk having an opening, and a washer adapted to reinforce the disk at its opening, of a bolt entering the Washer aperture, and an arm connectible with the bolt,

Vsubstantially as described.

3. The vcombination with the wall of a casket, of a recessed and perforated ear, a Washer in the recess, impinging the casket wall and said ear, and means for securing the ear and Washer to the casket Wall, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the Wall of a casket, a recessed and perforated ear attached thereto, a Washer in the recess inthe ear and impinging on the coftinwall and ear, and a screw securing the Washer and ear on the casket Wall with the apertures in said wall and ear in alignment, of an arm having a hooked end adapted to enter the. aperture in the ear and Washer, and a ring eye bolt secured in the casket Wall and engaged by the hooked end of the arm, substantially as described. f l

5, The combination with the wall of a cofiin, and a handle bar having arlms provided with hooked ends and peripheral shoulders at the bases ot' said hooked ends, of hinge bolts securable in the coftin Wall and loosely en- Y gaging the hooked ends of the arms, sheet f metal ears apertured to receive the hooked ends of the arms and receive the impinge of the shoulders on said arms, reinforcing washers within the ears, impinging the Wall of the con and said ears, and means to changeably secure the ears andthe reinforcing washers on f the cotfinrwall, substantially as described. LYMAN E. WOODARD. Witnesses:

LoUIs FLICKINGER, FRED B. WooDARD. 

